Newborns - Photography Book and Real Life

This particular blog post is a two for one, a little about me and my life and a book review. The book is Photographing Newborns for Boutique Photographers by Mimika Cooney. I wish I had read it sooner as my little girl is now five months old and not a newborn anymore. Sad face. But she is growing fast and amazing to watch as she does. She is still just as snuggly but we are getting into the joys of teething. Had I read it while still pregnant I would have learned some great poses to try with her while she was still tiny. The book covers a great deal of the business aspect of being a boutique newborn photographer. Owning a business is a lot like having a baby. With a baby there's all the fun stuff- smiles, cuddles, belly laughs and then there are the not so fun things like diapers, crying, and teething. For a business the fun stuff is getting props, new gear, taking the image and the not so fun stuff insurance, contracts, deadlines. But Mimika stresses the importance of taking care of the not so fun stuff in order to be able to actually do the fun things. I liked this book a lot for that reason and I love it because a portion of the sales will be donated to the organization Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS). NILMDTS is an organization of photographers who donate their time and talent to give lasting memories to parents when a baby leaves this world before they are born or shortly after. It is an amazing organization and it is commendable for a photographer to donate their time for such a cause.
To learn more about what they do find them here NILMDTS

To purchase Photographing Newborns for Boutique Photographers find it at
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
or direct from the publisher
Amherst Media

Book Review

This time around its a landscape photography book- Magic Light and the Dynamic Landscape by Jeanine Leech. It's been awhile since I got myself out there to do any serious landscape photography. This book gives me the itch to get back out there and do some. We'll just have to see if that happens with my little baby holding me down in the mornings by her sleepy cuteness. But back to the book. The images are amazing of course and the lighting impeccable. I was familiar with a number of the techniques that she describes but there were several that were either new or hadn't tried yet. It also reminded me that I should really add a neutral density filter and graduated ND filter to my equipment bag. The images you can obtain with the help of either of them are just amazing and I should have added them long ago. I guess I just needed a little reminder.